A Call to Worship

 

Worship of God is the center-point of our lives as individuals and of our life as a community.

 

As we worship, we bring the issues of our lives—our doubts, uncertainties, triumphs and hopes— and offer them up to God in a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Transformed from individuals into a community: we are comforted, challenged and fed - strengthened and sent forth into the world, renewed in Christ.  As we arrive bringing the issues of our own lives to offer in worship, so we depart empowered as the priestly People of God - bearing the gifts of the grace of Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

 

During the first part of the service, we concentrate on hearing the Word of God as written in Holy Scripture.  Lessons from the Old Testament or Hebrew Scripture, the Epistles or Letters of Paul and the early Apostles, and from the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are heard. These readings are not arbitrarily chosen, but are ecumenical (prepared by scholars from a variety of major denominations) and are appointed to be used throughout the Episcopal Church according to a calendar called the Lectionary.

 

In addition, we offer prayers, sing hymns and psalms; we hear the Word of God interpreted in a sermon; we confess our faith and pray for the needs of the world; and we confess our sins and receive the grace of forgiveness.

 

The second half of the service focuses upon the altar and the celebration of the Holy Communion.  We do this in obedience to our Lord's command at the Last Supper:  "Do this in remembrance of me" - words that we still use faithfully in every celebration.

 

This section of the service is punctuated by music - anthems and psalms sung by the choir or hymns sung by the congregation.  Symbolic of the offering of our own lives and gifts, members of the congregation bring forth the bread and wine used in our celebration of the Holy Communion.

 

To remind us that we are his Body in the world, we all eat from the same loaf of bread broken into small pieces, and we drink from a common cup. The elements of bread and wine are distributed to God's People as they either stand or kneel.

 

For some people from other traditions, the thought of drinking from a common cup may seem at first a bit unnerving, somehow "unsanitary." An option exists for those who choose not to drink from a common cup. For these individuals, the chalice bearer takes the bread from the recipient's hand, dips it in the wine, and places it on the recipient's tongue.

 

Please note that the Church holds that receiving Communion "in one kind", either the bread or the wine, conveys the full grace of the Sacrament.

 

When Christ instituted the Holy Communion at the Last Supper, he told his disciples, "Do this in remembrance of me". From the catholic perspective, "remembrance" means more than merely imagining an historical event. We believe our Lord meant something more radical, something that has to do with here and now. To re-member a body is, literally, to put that body back together.

 

We believe that, when we gather around the Holy Table to share a simple meal of bread and wine, we re-member the Body of Christ. Although we do not subscribe to any particular theological explanation of the change that occurs to the bread and wine (transubstantiation or consubstantiation), we nevertheless believe that Christ is truly present in the consecrated Bread and Wine, his true Flesh and Blood.

 

At St. John's, the service of hearing the Word of God and receiving the Holy Communion is generally referred to as the Liturgy - a word which means "the work of the people."  However, you will likely hear other names for this service, too: the Holy Eucharist, the Lord's Supper, or the Mass - a traditional and appropriate term. It is a catholic term universally understood by Christians to refer to this service.  What is often misunderstood is that catholic does not mean Roman Catholic.

 

The formality of our worship finds its structure in The Book of Common Prayer. This book serves as the basis for the worship in every congregation of the Episcopal Church.  However, each parish may approach the details of ritual and ceremony differently. St. John's uses many of the options offered in the book. Still, the general pattern of worship and the texts used in worship are consistent from parish to parish, no matter where one is worshipping .

 

We believe that the Sunday Liturgy is fundamental to our life, both as individuals and as a faith community. Regular attendance at the Sunday Liturgy is foremost in the life of a Christian. If someone is missing from the assembly, the Body is diminished in its potential. We want to be known clearly and fully for who we are - The Body of Christ, God's People who gather to offer ourselves, our lives, and the world to God and to take our experience of God back out into the world as Good News. This is the greatest and most precious gift that Christians have to offer to our broken and sinful world.

 - means first and foremost regular participation in the worship of God. The Book of Common Prayer states the expectations of our Church quite clearly;

 

The duty of all Christians is to follow Christ; to come together week by week for corporate worship; and to work, pray, and give for the spread of the kingdom of God.

WE ARE THE CHURCH TOGETHER

General Information Concerning our Worship

Reconciled to God, we offer the peace of Christ to one another  by shaking hands and even hugging those around us. It is a sign of our unity in Christ.

Belonging to St. John’s

The Peace bridges our worship from the Word of God to Holy Communion.

All baptized Christians are invited to come forward and receive the Sacrament - regardless of denominational affiliation.

Feeding us with the Bread of Heaven and the Cup of Salvation, we are nourished and renewed as his Body - his active and living presence in the world.

 

All baptized Christians are members of the Body of Christ.

Our worship is, strictly speaking, formal; that is, following a form or pattern that is consistent.  We approach it deliberately, earnestly and joyfully.  In short, we understand the experience to be holy and accord it the very sort of dignity and joy which we associate with those things, people and relationships we know to be "of God'".

As the Body of Christ in the world, so Christ's mission is OUR mission: to reconcile the world to God.

 

We invite you to:

· share that mission.

· join us in the worship of God, hearing God's Word and sharing in Christ's Body and Blood.

· take your part with us in re-membering the Body of Christ.

 

Regular worship is at the center of our common life. Our services offer many features which help to bring us closer to God:

 

Biblically Based - The Liturgy of the Word in each service consists of four scripture readings: one reading from the Old Testament, the Psalms, the New Testament, and the Gospels. In addition, much of the rest of our service is taken directly from the Bible.

 

Eucharistically Centered - We recall Jesus' command at his last supper with his disciples to "Do this in remembrance of me" as we regularly receive Holy Communion; our central act of corporate worship is the Eucharist.

 

Liturgical in Nature - Words, actions, music, and visual symbols combine to express our understanding of God's presence in our world and in our lives.

 

Ancient and Modern - The basic form of our services and some of the exact words were in place by the 3rd century. The beliefs and practices of the Anglican Church evolved during the 16th century as a "Middle Way" between the theologies of the Protestant reformers and the Church in Rome. Our Book of Common Prayer was originally written in 1549. It has gone through many revisions, most recently in 1979.

THE WAY WE WORSHIP